Private Moscow (Private #15) by James Patterson

Private Moscow (Private #15) by James Patterson

432 pages - First published 2020

With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Jack Morgan, who owns a highly successful private detective agency with offices around the world, is invited to New York by an old friend, Karl Parker, who is then assassinated at the New York Stock Exchange. Jack knows that Karl had been trying to tell him something and promises his dead friend's wife that he will find the killer. After following a trail of breadcrumbs left for him by Parker, Jack finds himself travelling to Russia where he works with his Moscow office and uncovers a plot that could get himself killed.

First off, I want to say that I have not read the rest of the series. In fact, I did not know that this was even part of a series until after I had read it. I am, however, an avid reader of the Alex Cross books so I am used to Patterson's style of writing, and one thing he does well is create tension, especially during car chases and other such high pressure scenes.

The other thing that Patterson does (which I really dislike) is create characters that have problems with relationships. I know that being a police officer or private detective means a lot of committment to their jobs but come on, not everyone is the FBI, or similar job roles, is unlucky in love. I imagine Patterson creates these flawed characters to make the story interesting but honestly, it's boring.

Another thing James Patterson does is change from 1st to third person depending on the chapter. The main character, Jack, will be written from the first person perspective, but any other characters will be written in third person, and it can take some getting used to.

All in all, I really enjoyed the story and was kept on the edge of my seat for the duration. Despite being the fifteenth book in a series I found it extremely easy to read and didn't feel like any back story not provided would have been necessary, but I do think I would like to read more.

A fast paced thriller from beginning to end and very worthy of 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐